Pas De Deux
by Alys Blanchefleur
Summary: Alfred, aspiring dancer and hero, has made it to the Zwingli Ballet Academy, only to find himself struggling to keep up. Thankfully, there is an upperclassman willing to help. Eventual USUK. Rated T for my potty mouth.
1. First Position

_Disclaimer: Although I have been dancing for over two years now, I suck at it and as such will probably get several details wrong in this story. But I do know excellent dancers, and have already milked them for answers. So I hope it turns out okay._

_This story is dedicated to all of the people at my dance studio, but mostly to The Boys; Mitchell (my personal Denmark), Peter (my personal Iceland), and Joel (my personal America). They are outnumbered approximately eight to one, but at least they have a sense of humour about it._

* * *

"Hey!" Alfred called out for what felt like the millionth time, grabbing onto the nearest passing stranger; a middle-aged man in a three-piece suit. The man glared at him, grey eyes sharp, so Alfred hurried to get down to business.

"Uh, _weißt du Zwingli Akademie, wo es ist_?" he asked in his terribly broken German. The man raised an eyebrow at him, before spewing something that was probably along the lines of "Get lost; I'm late for my flight," at the boy, and leaving.

He had to bite his tongue to keep from cussing out loud, but on the inside he was calling himself every name he knew.

Idiot. Alfred F. Jones was a goddamned idiot. Why else would he have managed to get into the prestigious Zwingli Dance Academy, save up a ton of money for the tuition and plane ticket, and come all the way to Zurich, (which is a long way from Omaha, _thank you very much_) only to find out he _didn't have a clue where the school was_.

He felt like punching a wall, or viciously assaulting someone with his duffle bag, but he wasn't that big of an idiot where he would do that in a public place like an airport.

But that still didn't change anything.

However, Alfred refused to give up, trying one last person who he barely looked at before repeating, "_Weißt du Zwingli Akademie, wo es ist_?"

The person he asked, a lithe, tanned woman with wavy brown hair, took in his appearance, before smiling kindly. "German isn't your first language, is it?"

He could have kissed her. She was speaking English! Honest to God English! "No, it's not. My German's probably kinda sucky."

"I suppose," the woman shrugged, green eyes twinkling, "But everyone has to start somewhere. Are you a freshman?"

Alfred's spent brain couldn't comprehend. "What?"

"At Zwingli Academy," the woman repeated, "Are you a freshman?"

"Oh, yeah." Alfred furrowed his brows as the gears of his mind washed off the rage and lethargy and slowly started turning again. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I teach there," she said, "I'm Miss Hedervay, by the way. You are?"

"Alfred F. Jones," he said proudly.

"It's nice to meet you, Alfred." Niceties exchanged, Miss Hedervay moved on. "One of the other teachers is coming to pick me up. Would you like to join us?"

"YEAH!" Alfred cried enthusiastically, before the little manners he had kicked in. "I mean, yes, please."

"She won't be here for about a half hour or so, so we have a little bit of time to kill," Miss Hedervay pointed out, "Are you hungry?"

Alfred was about to reply, but his stomach did it for him. (That airplane food was nasty, okay? They didn't even have hamburgers.) Miss Hedervay let out a laugh, before leading the boy to a fast food restaurant, Miss Hedervay ordering for him in German. As they ate, they chatted. He learned that Miss Hedervay was from Hungary, had been dancing all her life, had started teaching at the Zwingli Academy a couple years ago, etc.

"Headmaster Zwingli is a dance genius,*" Miss Hedervay gushed, "He could have made it big time, but then he injured his ankle just before he turned twenty. He still limps a little bit." Miss Hedervay sighed, before continuing, "But he's fantastic. And don't worry," she winked, "He may look like a hard-ass, but he's really all mushy on the inside."

By the time their late lunch was finished, Miss Hedervay had gotten a text from her friend.

"She's outside," she said, grabbing her own suitcase and eyeing Alfred's huge duffle bag, "Do you need any help with that?"

"No way," Alfred smiled his patented Alfred smile, "I've got total Superman strength! I could probably carry two of these and not break a sweat!"

Miss Hedervay merely smiled and nodded, suppressing a peal of laughter. It was wondrous, and almost hilarious, the transformation this boy had undergone simply thanks to a meager meal of grease.

Outside they were met by a green VW bug, driven by a slightly older-looking blond woman who introduced herself as Miss Florinda. As the trunk of the car refused to open, Alfred was squished in the back with his and Miss Hedervay's luggage. A quick drive later, they pulled into a parking lot.

After Alfred managed to tumble out of the car, he was met with a fantastic sight; the stunning campus. Even from his obstructed view on the ground, it was beautiful. The structures were all polished chrome and spotless glass, the sharp angles cutting into the sky, glittering and shining like a brand-new diamond ring. A stone sign was planted in the manicured lawn adjacent to the parking lot, giving the school's name in three different languages.

_Zwingli International Akademie Ballett und Tanz für Jungen_

_Académie internationale Zwingli de ballet et danse pour les gars_

_Zwingli International Boys' Ballet and Dance Academy_

He was here. He was really here.

"Got to take a moment to digest it, hm?" He turned, finding Miss Hedervay standing behind him.

Alfred smiled, but not his usual smile. A real smile, small but true. "Yeah. I'm definitely not in Omaha anymore."

"You'll love it," Miss Hedervay promised, "Don't worry."

Alfred sincerely hoped she was right.

* * *

*_I have no clue where this headcanon of mine came from. Maybe I was hyper, maybe I was bored, maybe my evil twin got me high, I dunno. But I love it and will never let it go. MWAHAHAHAHA!_

_Short chapter is short. Meh._

_So, this story is purely for fun, and I totally suck so I probably won't be able to update very often. Reviews make me want to keep writing, and please don't be afraid to offer constructive criticism! Plus, I sort of have an idea as to where this story is going, but who knows?_


	2. Frappé

_Just how big is this school?_ Alfred had to wonder, being led to and from studio after office after bathroom in this seemingly endless tour. And this was only the main building. The concrete, stainless steel, and Plexiglass complex was positively immense! There was no way he was going to remember all of this, even though Miss Hedervay was doing all she could to pound it into his head.

"And I guess we'll stop here for now," Miss Hedervay, thankfully, concluded, gesturing to the glass doors, "This leads to the main courtyard. The sign-in desk is out there, and so are most of the new boys. Who've arrived, anyway," Miss Hedervay added, "It's still a little early."

"Thanks, Miss Hedervay," Alfred said, "I can handle it from here."

With that, the teacher bid him adieu, and he started through the courtyard, which was sandwiched between the main building and several others. But he didn't make it that far, thanks to the fact that he almost instantly bumped into someone, nearly falling over and dropping his bag.

"Watch where you're going, you pillock!" the voice of his victim chided. Alfred turned to look at him, only managing to catch a blond head of hair and the biggest frakking eyebrows he had ever seen when his attention was averted by a brazen battle cry.

"BOMBS AWAY!"

The American teen whipped his head around to the source of the noise, finding three boys on the main building balcony, one floor up; a tanned brunet, a tall blond, and an albino chucking a red water balloon straight at him. Or, more specifically, to his victim.

Oh, shit.

Now, Alfred, being the hero he was, knew he had to do something. If this were a movie or something, he would stand directly in front of the shorter boy, taking the impact directly to the chest. It would probably also happen in dramatic slow-mo so Alfred would have enough time to get fully in front of him.

But it wasn't a movie; it was reality. And, in reality, he didn't have the superhuman speed or agility required to get his whole body in front of this heavily eyebrowed guy in time. Really, he only managed to get his wrist in the trajectory, so most of it kind of exploded on Eyebrows' face.

The three boys on the balcony burst out laughing, the explosion of water attracting a crowd. Eyebrows just wiped the water from his eyes and glared up at them, face starting to go red, greatly contrasting his deep green eyes.

Alfred tried to apologize. "I'm so sor-."

"Now, now, _sourcils_," the blond one tutted, still chuckling, "Using your boyfriend as protection? That's just cheating."

"Shut up, Francis!" Eyebrows spat back, "At least I don't need to pull childish pranks to get my bloody kicks, you manky frog!"

Before any more insults could be spewed, however, an authoritative voice rang out. "What on Earth is going on here?"

When the boys saw the source of this voice, the crowd immediately dispersed, making way for the tall and extremely muscular man with gravity-defying blond hair making his way through the crowd.

"Nothing, Mister Maes," the brunet said, still chuckling.

"Don't you think for one second I'll believe you, Carriedo Fernandez," Mister Maes replied, looking more cross with every passing second, "Report to my office immediately. Bonnefoy, Beilschmidt, you, too." Although there was much grumbling from the roof, the trio left the scene via the main building, Mister Maes following close behind to make sure they didn't try anything.

Once they were alone, Eyebrows, still a delicate shade of crimson, rounded on Alfred. "What the hell was that?"

"Whaddya-," Alfred started, but was cut off by the shorter.

"Do you think I'm some bloody damsel in distress? I don't need your goddamned help!"

Eyebrows stormed off, leaving Alfred angry, humiliated, and slightly baffled by this unprecedented turn of events.

* * *

After that incident, Alfred managed to get his welcome package from two very amused-looking upperclassmen, before storming off to his dorm. Still burning with rage and embarrassment, he didn't really bother looking around after violently swinging his dorm door open, and took all his vexation out by chucking his bag onto the nearby bed as vigorously as he possibly could. He didn't even notice the presence in the room with him until it let out a strangled cry of surprise. Confused, he turned, only to find that his ridiculously monstrous bag was squashing his apparent roommate.

"Oh, geez!" Alfred ran to remove the duffel, sparing the fair and gentle-looking boy underneath, the book he had inevitably been reading smashed into his face from the harsh contact. "I'm super sorry! I didn't see you there!"

"No problem," he said in the airy, passive voice of someone who was used to this. He tenderly detached the book from his face, revealing soft features, violet eyes, long-ish blond hair, and glasses, which he carefully removed to make sure they were still intact.

When Alfred slammed his suitcase onto the opposite bed, the boy twitched a bit at the noise. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Alfred lied, not wanting to annoy his new roommate. However, after a few moments, he couldn't help it. The boy listened patiently to his rant as Alfred unpacked.

"-and I was just trying to help! I mean, I didn't really do much. The balloon still hit his face, but at least I did something! You should have seen those guys; they were laughing like total douchebags! And then he just goes and _yells_ at me! It's like, thanks a lot, man! I stand up for you and you act like I did something wrong! And he called me a pillock! What the hell does that even mean?"

"It doesn't sound too nice," the boy muttered, burying his face in his stuffed polar bear. One of many, it seemed; he had several teddy bears already on his bed.

Alfred huffed, shoving the last of his shirts into the dresser, before realising they hadn't introduced themselves. "I'm Alfred. Alfred F. Jones. What's your name?"

"I'm Matthew Williams," the boy said, "And this is Kuma… Kuma…" He flipped the polar bear over, checking the tag sticking out of its backside. "Kumajiro. I'll remember his name one day, I swear."

"That's a weird name," Alfred commented.

"My mom named him; it's an Inuit* name," Matthew claimed, "My mom loves Aboriginal culture."

"Inuit?" Alfred asked, not recognizing the word.**

"Northern Native Americans," he clarified, "I'm from Canada, so…"

"Cool!" Alfred said, "I'm born-and-raised American, myself. He, is it true that the second you cross the Canadian border, it gets ten degrees colder?"***

"Wha- Uh, no," Matthew muttered, "Never mind."

Alfred shrugged, surprised to find himself feeling slightly happier. Even if his first encounter at this school wasn't exactly a positive one, he felt as though he had finally found a friend in… Matthew; that was his name, right?

* * *

_*I'd say it's an Inuit name, judging by the fact that Matthew is, well, Canadian. I don't know for sure, though._

_**Most American's I've met have no clue what Inuits are. If you're American and you do, I apologize. It's just my personal experience._

_***An actual stereotype I have encountered. Alfred seems dumb enough to believe it :P_

_****Just wanted to add another. I've never had this many citations in a row before._

_Anyway, sorry this chapter took forever. I'd say it's because school has become a bitch lately, but that would be making excuses. I'm just seriously procrastinating. I hope it's good._

_Secondly, I'd like to give a shout-out to all of the apparent Finnish people who read my fic. Seriously; half of the people who read this story are Finnish. So forgive my Google Translate, but kiitos!_

_Also, I'd like to thank Anon and A-Mermaids-Tear1398 for reviewing, and A-Mermaids-Tear1398, Lilly927, and Moonlit dark for following this story. Follows, favourites, and especially reviews make an author's day and motivate me, too. So, please, review if you can, and favourite/follow of you really like it. Thank you, and I'll try to get the new chapter up as soon as possible._


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